Busy week of violent crime across QCA

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Busy week of violent crime across QCA

As the temperatures spike, so does the crime rate- that, according to local law enforcement, which has seen its fair share of activity in the Quad Cities over the last several days.

Just a block down the street from where Jimi Nickerson lives on 14th Street, two people were shot after police say a fight broke out early Monday evening.

“That’s unfortunate,” said Nickerson. “But, that’s not an excuse for me to run into my house and start peeking out the windows. I’m not allowing that to happen.”

Nickerson says what happened at the end of one block isn’t representative of the neighborhood as a whole and he says the problem starts at home.

“These are your kids carrying weapons,” he said. “What are you going to do about it?”

Crimes like these only increase during the summer months, according to law enforcement.

During the last several days alone, besides this shooting, the body of a murder victim was found near the Mississippi River by a cyclist who was also in Rock Island.

Steve Burton, 65, was murdered in Davenport- the victim of a brutal beating.

Nickerson says people shouldn’t view these crimes as confined to their one neighborhood in particular.

“Nobody’s safe. Gun play can happen anywhere.”

The solution, he says, is simple.

“You’ve got to have something for these kids to do. Otherwise, they’re going to roam the streets. If you’re going to nip it in the bud, you’ve got to get down to the roots. You can’t pull weeds from the top because they’ll grow back.”

According to Rock Island County Sheriff Jeff Boyd, the best way to avoid being a crime victim is to always be aware of your surroundings and don’t hesitate to call police if you suspect suspicious activity in your neighborhood.